


Ink Inc.

by PrincessKitten



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Bottom Louis, I'm Bad At Endings, M/M, Popstar Harry, Recreational Drug Use, Tattoos, Top Zayn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-13 00:56:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4501626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessKitten/pseuds/PrincessKitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not that he wants to be with someone else. He's in love with Louis. He's completely arse over tits in love with Louis and he has been for the better part of their friendship. But that's that's thing--he has been for the better part of their friendship and NOTHING has happened. They've remained stagnant the whole time and the logical part of his mind (a part very rarely used in regards to Louis) was telling him that he had to try to move forward.  </p>
<p>Louis and Zayn own a tattoo shop, Harry likes birds, and then there's sex.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ink Inc.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hmarie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmarie/gifts).



> Alright sooooooooo, this is for hmarie, for the Zouis Fic Exchange. I deviated from the prompt a little, but only a little! This is unbeta'd so any mistakes are my own. Hope you enjoy.

Zayn and Louis’s friendship was a bond forged by the common love for tattoos from the first moment they met. Granted, that first moment was the two of them drunkenly stumbling into the same bathroom at a party; and “bonding” was waking up the next morning in a stranger’s bathtub with a new stick-n-poke adorning their skin (a stick figure on a skateboard for Louis, and a tiny dove for Zayn) and no recollection of how it got there, or by whom.

That was years ago though, and they’ve graduated up from giving each other drunken stick-n-pokes to swirling smooth lines of ink over the others skin anywhere there’s a blank bit of canvas.

Zayn got into tattooing first—professionally that is, bought himself a £200 starter kit online and began laying down ink on anything with the right texture (still too nervous to put the needled to anyone’s skin but his own (and by that extension, Louis’s)), but he would lay around their shared flat for hours, doodling in notepads and practicing lines on oranges and bananas while Lou rolled a spliff next to him and told him how sick his designs were. But it was Louis who got the first apprenticeship, having a connection to a tattoo parlour in the form of one of his mum’s ex (at the current time) boyfriends. Zayn followed a few months later however, after showing his portfolio around to a few people, and finally finding a credible artist to take him under their wing.

Fast forward five and a half years and their _Zap! Tattoos and Piercing_ shop had been open for a little more than seven months, just beginning to take flight from prats wanting barbed wire armlets and young girls wanting infinity signs, to REAL clientele wanting complex art and the occasional big-leaguer coming in for a show piece.

“Baby Bear,” Zayn cooed from over the counter as Louis wiggled around to music Zayn couldn’t hear while he cleaned his station. No response—not even a micro-movement to hint he had heard his co-owner calling for him.

“Boo,” a pause. Nothing.

“Lou Lou”

“…..”

“Tommo”

“Louis”

“Dickhead” he tries disdainfully, tossing a wadded up tissue at Louis as he shakes his arse to the music pumping from his headphones, and Lou finally looks up at him, tugging an earbud free with an incoherent look on his face.

“Whattsat?” he asks stupidly, and Zayn rolls his eyes. Louis is notorious for selective hearing—especially when it comes to Zayn.

“Your 11 o’clock is here” he says, elbows resting on the back counter as he peers into Louis’s workspace, and watches as his eyes widen comically.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” he screeches—another tendency Louis reserved for Zayn related purposes—and Zayn just deadpans at him as he scurries up to the front to greet his client.

Lou’s client is a big bloke already half covered in ink, and he’s been coming there for a few months, usually just getting smaller pieces, but the last two times him and Lou have been working on a massive rib piece. They’ll finally be laying down the color today—13 hours and nearly a grand later, and they’ll be finishing the piece. Louis cleared a six hour chunk of his life for this and Zayn can tell he's mad proud of it.

Louis isn’t the type to boast on his own work—as confident as the little prick comes off, hes very meek in regards to his art, taking compliments with a soft smile that looks foreign on his usually devilish face. But Zayn knows him, knows all his inner workings, and can tell by the careful steadiness in his hands when he works—terrified of slipping up and ruining the piece, but eager to move forward to see the finished product. Like he's not even the one carving out the lines and splashing the color onto the work, but he's just watching and waiting to see what he's created this time. Zayn loves watching him work.

Zayn loves a lot of things about him.

But he shakes his head to clear these thoughts, and rests his hand on Louis’s hip as he steps up behind him while Lou chats to his client, not saying anything, just listening, fingers rubbing absent minded circles on the sharp of his hip bone.

“How’s it healed up since last time? There hasn’t been any peeling has there?” Louis asks, head craned back to talk up to his client, pretty much ignoring Zayn beside the slight shift in his weight as he presses into the touch. But the bloke shakes his head.

“Nah mate, healed up just fine—tried that lotion thing you told me about.” He says back and Louis nods in vague recognition.

“Right! Down to business then, you know the drill, you aren’t under the influence of any alcoholic beverages or illegal substances are you?” he asks and the guy—Adam or sommat— shakes his head and Louis snorts

“That makes one of us then mate” he jokes but checks a little box on the release form. They can’t work on anyone who’s under the influence—not just for consent reasons but for the client’s safety as well.

“And you don’t currently have any blood-borne illnesses that I should be aware of?” he asks now, another standard question, but this one is more for their safety—and he gets another head shake in response. Then they’re all set since as they still have Adam’s i.d. on record from before and Louis can take him back to begin.

Zayn is on walk-in duty today, since he doesn’t have any clients lined up for this afternoon. Honestly, he’ll probably just doodle in the margins of the release form until he gets bored enough and goes back to watch Lou work. He doesn’t care much for walk-in work anyway. It’s not that they’re awful or anything. You just get a lot of people wanting basic things like roses or crosses or tribal designs, which aren’t bad, but he has to sacrifice a lot of artistic integrity for things like that—things he has to put his name on that he takes no pride in. Not that they’re poorly done, they’re just not his art—and that settles wrong under his skin.

His pen is tapping rhythmically on the counter. And he vaguely recognizes Louis babbling over the buzz of the machine. He talks his client’s ears off while he works –not Zayn though. He needs the quiet to concentrate, having to wholeheartedly devote himself to the piece for it to turn out how he wants it. However, his concentration is torn away from the tiny Louis-esque figure holding a bazooka he had been doodling by a loud screech of

“ZAAAAYYYYYYYYYYNNNNNNNNNNNNNN” and Zayn drops his things, panic sweeping over him as his feet skid over the smooth floors as he scrambles back towards Louis’s station—

Only to be met with a smirk from Adam, and a wolfish grin (thinly veiled by an innocent smile) from Louis.

“See? I told you he would come. Hes like a knight in shining armor. Only without the armor, or bravery, or swords” Louis says matter-of-factly to Adam.

“It also helps that hes madly in love with me” he adds and turns to smirk at Zayn once more, and Zayn curses himself for the fond smile that spreads across his face.

“If I’m a knight, does that make you the Princess?” he fires back, but Louis doesn’t even blink

“Of course I’m a princess, Zaynie, and don’t you ever forget it” he says and Zayn can’t do anything but shake his head in exasperation.

“Wouldn’t dream of it Lou—did you actually need something or were you just trying to scare the shit out of me?” he inquires and Louis shrugs

“I needed your company and your pretty face” he replies, and Adam is the one who snorts now.

“Prick” Zayn accuses with a soft laugh, heading back towards the front with a call of “YOU LOVE ME!!” shouted after him, and a fainter “he loves me” echoing it.

Zayn knows how Louis likes to tease—but some things just settle close to home for him. He's been mental for Louis for years now, and part of him thinks Louis knows it and just plays friendly to make him feel better. The other part thinks maybe it’s time for him to let go, seeing as it hasn’t gone anywhere in the last six years, and he sighs, wadding up his drawing from before and tossing it towards the rubbish. It misses and bounces back onto the floor, and he grumbles the whole way over to bending down and picking it up again. The bell above the door sounds just as he's leaning back up to toss it out, and he looks up to see a gangly figure in the door, pushing a pair of sunglasses up into long curls.

“Em—hello mate” Zayn greets, waving halfheartedly as the bloke steps up to the counter, a wide smile stretched across his face

“Ello!!” hes greeted with chipperly

“I’m Zayn, man, what can I get for you?” he asks and the guy smiles impossibly wider... Zayn wonders if it hurts to smile that hard.

“I’m here for you!!” he says excitedly

“well—not you, you but—You!! A tattoo by you!! My mate Grimmy--do you remember grimmy? He said you would remember him--anyway, Grimmy recommended me to you” he says and Zayn nods. He remembers Nick, bit of a prick, but Zayn thought he was hilarious. Louis absolutely hated him—but then again he did refer to Louis as Princess Fat Arse the entire time he was there. His piece was small though—nothing to really write home about. Well done, but nothing he’d expect a recommendation from —but he won’t complain.

“Oh!! And I’m Harry” the lanky fellow—Harry, adds, and he seems familiar to Zayn, but he shrugs it off as a vague feeling of déja-vu.

Now Zayn—Zayn did not keep up with pop culture, bless the boy. It’s not that he had no interest in it, or was being a hipster about the whole thing and TRYING to ignore it. It was merely that he was a very busy lad, being a shop owner AND living with Louis was like having two full time jobs. By the time they closed up shop and cleaned everything it was usually at least 11pm and then he had to feed Louis, who was like a toddler after they’ve eaten—hyper and demanding attention, so that didn’t really leave him time for things like pop culture and pop stars. (Other than the Kardashians, because Louis likes to watch their show when he's stoned, so naturally Zayn does too). However, in the pop culture world, Harry was THE pop star; everyone’s favorite it-boy. 25 million followers on twitter, 2 world tours, 4 Grammys and a feature article in nearly every big name magazine. Everyone knew who Harry Styles was. Everyone except Zayn.

“Cool mate, what can I get for you then?” he asks and Harry nods, pulling a neatly organized stack of papers out of the satchel resting on his hip and handing it over to Zayn. He leafs through them, humming a bit. Its birds. Like hundreds of pictures of birds, and bird tattoos, all in different styles with different coloring techniques and Zayn looks up at Harry solemnly.

“Mate—there’s at least a dozen different concepts here” he says slowly, making sure Harry understands, because HE doesn’t understand. And Harry nods seriously.

“I wanted you to have options” he says and Zayn looks skeptical.

“It’s your tattoo bro, do you have any specifics on what you want?” he asks and Harry nods again.

“Birds.” He says and Zayn sighs, talk about artistic freedom.

“Ok----birds” he agrees and looks through the pictures once more, trying to find any cohesive idea on what it is exactly that Harry wants.

“Where do you want them?” he asks offhandedly and looks up at Harry again. He's quite tall.

“Oh! Here!” he says and points to his bare collar bones. His shirt is unbuttoned low enough that Zayn can see half of his torso, including the other bit of ink just under his sternum.

“Ah—I see. Ok, well, I have free time now so why don’t I draw up some ideas and we can go over what you want a little more then, and talk price and time and that” he says and Harry nods

“Ok!” he agrees, looking at Zayn and walking backwards to sit down in one of the chairs they have by the windows. He's an odd one. And Zayn shakes his head to himself as he walks back and disappears to the back with the fistful of bird pictures.

“Lou you’ve got to see this bloke i'm tattooing” he calls, stopping to lean on the half wall by Louis’s area.

“He's—strange.” Zayn decides on. Lowkey, him and Louis live to talk shit about their clients. Most of it was good natured, but they like being nosy and gossiping like a bunch of school girls at the lunch table, and Louis grunts in response, concentrating on Adam’s ribs. Who’s just listening to headphones at this point.

“He says Grimmy sent him” he adds and Louis makes a face.

“He's probably a prick then. I bet he kicks puppies for fun. You should turn him away” Louis says snarkily and Zayn laughs. This guy? He doubts it.

“I can’t turn away clients just because of your vendetta against Nick Grimshaw...Bad for business” He says and Louis gives him a look.

“A puppy kicker, Zayn. No one will want to come here if they know we cater to puppy-kickers” he argues and Zayn laughs.

“Just go see him when you have a free second” Zayn says “I’m gonna draw up a tattoo for him quick” he adds and Louis mutters a “traitor” under his breath as Zayn heads to his own station.

Zayn’s station is an absolute mess. Papers stuck all over the walls, between business cards, inspiration, and odd things that Louis brings him, the walls are covered. Zayn can’t even recall their actual color at this point. And he shoves away more papers—drawings he's left abandoned or ran out of inspiration for, and moves his coffee cup from this morning so he can start working on the birds for Harry.

Time passes quickly for him when he's working, and he easily loses track of it as his pencil glides over the paper. He has to try a few times before he gets a base he likes, but once he has the basic outline drawn out. It's just details. He's going American traditional on this one--something he doesn't often do, but he feels like it will fit the best with the other tattoos littering Harry's arms. From what he could see at least. And he draws in fine details around the eyes. Taking his time with working out the lay of each feather. That's Zayn's style. Meticulous. Neat and disciplined in his line work, taking great pride in fine details. He lives for the under workings of a tattoo. Louis is the opposite though. He loves the drama of it all--all his pieces are loud, showy things with big swooping lines and bright colors, and for that reason, that's what half of the tattoos on Zayn's arms look like. Whenever one of them has a new idea they want to try out, the other becomes their drawing board.

He's just finishing up with the first concept sketch, and heading back to show Harry when he hears an "OH MY GOD" and then little feet scurrying towards him--only just noticing Louis isn't at his station when a small body FLIES into him and clutches at his shirt

"Zayn" Louis whispers--sort of whispers...Shouts, really, at Zayn.

"Harry Styles is in our waiting room" he continues to "whisper" as if Harry could hear them from back here regardless. And Zayn nods slowly, not understanding

"Oh is that his last name? Yeah he's my client" he says, hands going to Louis's hips since he's this close anyway.

"He was the one I was telling you about. Grimmy's friend" he adds.

"THAT DOUCHEDICK IS FRIENDS WITH HARRY STYLES?!?" Louis screeches. Directly into Zayn's face and he flinches a bit.

"Ehm--yeah. Why? Is that a big deal?" He ask and Louis smacks his chest.

"Of COURSE it's a big deal!! Zayn!! Harry StYLES" he screeches again and Zayn just looks at him flatly, rubbing his chest in disdain.

"You keep saying that, and still don't know what you mean, babes" he says and Louis groans, head plunking against Zayn's shoulder in frustration.

"It MEANS there's a world famous pop star in our waiting room and YOU LET ME CALL HIM A PUPPY KICKER" Louis laments and Zayn's snorts

"Not to his face at least" he points out and Louis pulls back to glare now.

"It's the thought that counts Zaynie and I THOUGHT he was a puppy kicker. He must hate me now" he cries and Zayn just shakes his head,used to all of Louis's drama.

"I doubt it bear. It's not easy to hate you" he coos. Louis lives for flattery. But he means it. Not many people can hate Louis. For all his drama and sass--and loudness and generally prickish ways. No one can hate him. He's got this addictive sort of personality. Zayn thinks it's his smile. A devilish little curl of ruthless lips, stretched across a charming baby face. That's how he gets away with being so--himself. Because no one can hate him for it. But Louis has a different sort of smile now, tiny and sincere and he nods.

"You're right!" He proclaims

"I'm going to introduce myself!! I always did deserve famous friends" he adds, more to himself than to Zayn as he pushes away from him and marches back towards the front. Zayn wonders idly where his client is. Because there's no way they're even close to finished yet. And he shakes his head, bemused, as he follows Louis to the front where he's currently introducing himself.

"Pleasure to meet you, young Harold. I am the owner and proprietor of this establishment and--AACK!!" Louis squeals as Zayn smacks his arse just as he steps up behind him, chuckling to himself, and effectively cutting Louis off.

"Here mate, I've got your ehm--birds, for you. Why don't you check these out, tell me what you like and don't like and we'll go from there" he says and Harry nods, looking strangely between the two of them before he takes the paper from Zayn, barely glancing at it before he grins

"it's PERFECT!!" He says excitedly

"Exactly what I wanted. Ok. Can we start now?" He ask and Zayn chuckles, hand still on Louis's ass since he hasn't wiggled away yet. But now he looks offended and pokes Zayn in the chest.

"Excuuuuuuuuuuuuse me!! I was introducing myself. Zayncifer" Louis says with all the terror and authority of an oversized opossum, and Zayn rolls his eyes

"Lou where is YOUR client?" He asks and Louis takes in a deep breath to retort before he realizes he probably SHOULD be back with Adam working and he squints at Zayn now, and moves away, back into the back again to work. And Harry is laughing.

"Right. So--yeah. We can start now. Let's just get the paperwork and that." Zayn says as he rummages around under the counter looking for another release form. It's sort of hard for him to believe that THIS guy is a celebrity. He wouldn't put it passed Louis to lie to him either.

"Alright. Here we go--you're not drunk are you?" He ask and looks at Harry and Harry looks appalled that he even has to ask

"No!! No of course not" he says  
  
"I'm On a cleanse" he adds and Zayn nods slowly, pretending that he understands what that even means.

"Riiiiiiiiiiight. Ok. So that's a no to drugs too then?" He asks and Harry nods, bouncing on the balls of his feet now.

"Ok, I'll just need to see your I.d. And then we'll be all set" he says and Harry hands him his license for Zayn to photocopy.

"Cool, come on back" he says once he's finished and Harry skips to keep up as he leads him further into the shop.  
Louis is working again when they pass.

"Alright, you take your shirt off and get comfortable and I'll get the stencil ready" he says as Harry sits in the chair. Which they pre-sanitize before every client.

"So what made you decide birds?" He ask as he transfers the work onto the stencil paper, just making small conversation and Harry goes into a long rant about the freedom of birds and the lack of social construct and societal obligations on birds and Zayn just nods, trying to look interested as he cleans Harry's skin where the stencil will go, and lays it out so the purple lines show up clearly on Harry's skin.

"Ok yeah--never thought of birds like that" he says. As he hands Harry a little mirror

"Check the placement and make sure you like it before we start" He says, opening up a clean needle to load into his machine as Harry inspects it.

"It's perfect" Harry concludes and Zayn nods. Rolling his stool up to get close.

"So when did all this happen?" He asks. Harry had started his rant about birds with a story of seeing two birds inside a tube station, and being inspired when they flew up through ventilation shafts and back outside, because unlike humans they were free to roam the world at their own content, not having to worry about the proverbial ‘shackles’ of the London public transit system.

"Oh, this morning" Harry says happily and Zayn quirks an eyebrow at that, as he turns the machine on.

"You decided to get this tattoo this morning?" He asks and Harry nods, smiling brightly "mhmm" he says and Zayn laughs

"You printed out all those bird pictures this morning?" There was literally at least 100 of them. And Harry shakes his head now

"Oh no, I had them" he says and Zayn just doesn't question it. Harry Styles. Pop star and secret bird enthusiast. who’d of thunk?

"Ok" he agrees placidly, not even wanting to question it, and sets out to start working on Harry's skin.

After a short period of time, it becomes abundantly clear that Harry is a lot like Louis, and likes to chat, regardless if he has something worthwhile to say or not. And it unnerves Zayn. Not that Harry isn't charming or interesting but Zayn NEEDS quiet to concentrate, and he gets frazzled when he has to try to keep up conversation and work at the same time. This makes the process take a lot longer than he expected, but he manages, seeing as the birds aren't all that huge.

About halfway through the second one--two hours later. Harry starts talking selfies on his phone as Zayn works, holding his phone out to get both of them in it and Zayn shakes his head, smiling a little to himself as he works. Harry is a tad ridiculous, he's come to find out. But it's alright--although, his hand is starting to cramp and Harry has been shifting around for the last few minute in discomfort. So he thinks it's time to pause, and he turns his machine off as he pulls it away from Harry's skin,

"Why don't we take a little break?" He offers and Harry nods, smiling as he clicks through Insta to find a good filter.

"How do you feel about black and white?" He asks. His entire insta is in black and white. But he still checks all the filters just to make sure he wants it to be black and white.....he does.

"What's your insta?" He adds before Zayn even answers the first question and Zayn laughs and tells him, watching as Harry tags him in it, before he stands up and stretches, wincing a bit at the tender skin around his neck. And Zayn smiles a little and retreats. He has to go find Louis. Like he said, it's not that Harry isn't sweet or charming but--All of that talking tires him out and he needs to recharge. Not that Louis talks any LESS than Harry it's just--it's just different with Louis. And he makes his way over to Louis's station, where he's still laying color out on Adam's rib cage and he smiles, moving towards Louis and pressing a little kiss to the top of the shorter lads head before he rests his chin on his shoulder.

"Hi" he says lightly and smiles a bit, arms coming around Louis's middle, making sure to stay away from his arms though so he doesn't mess him up.

"All done?" Louis asks distractedly and he shakes his head

"nah. Taking a break" he says and Louis nods

"Harry is a talker" Zayn adds and gets a quiet laugh in return

"Of course he is, he seems like the type--are you ok?" He asks and side eyes Zayn for a moment before focusing again and Zayn hums lightly

"Yeah, I'll be fine. We're almost done anyway. You wanna get Japanese after this?" He asks lightly and Louis shakes his head

"I want a burrito" he says instead and Zayn nods

"Ok. Burritos after this"

"You still probably have another four hours" he adds as he eyes over the progress they've made so far, and Louis whines

"Don't remind meeeeeeeeee. Rude." He accuses and Zayn laughs, standing again and twisting so his back pops

"Sorry sorry, I'll let you get back to it" he says and heads back out, back to his own space where Harry is taking more selfies in front of the mirror and Zayn laughs as he watches, startling Harry into letting out a yelp.

"You SCARED me" he says, clutching his chest and Zayn thinks he might have found the one other person in this world who is as dramatic as Louis is.

"Sorry mate. How are you feeling?" He asks

"We shouldn't have too much time left. An hour tops" he adds and Harry nods

"I'm doing great! It looks wicked man" he says happily and sits back down on the chair, as they get ready to start again.

"Thanks" Zayn murmurs swelling with pride. It's nice, getting recognition for your art, even on a small scale. And Harry lays back again, so they can continue, Harry talking the whole time, and Zayn listening, and adding in small comments here and there when he's not too distracted to respond.

When all's said and done, It's almost 4 hours later and Harry is out £300. Not that he would have any trouble dropping that sort of money, Zayn muses.

"Ok so, aftercare. No petroleum, no matter what anyone tells you, it suffocates your skin and slows down the healing process--don't keep it covered for more than two days--it needs to breathe a bit. Ehm. We have a special lotion we make if you want to go that way and other than that--just come back in if you have any issues or peeling or it doesn't seem to be properly healed within the next week or so" he says and Harry nods, smiling sweetly.

"Thank you so much--I love it. Ehm. Here" he says, handing Zayn more money, wrapped In a bit of paper.

"A tip" Harry says, and Zayn smiles, reaching out to shake his hand

"Alright, thanks man, come back and see us next time you're struck by inspiration" he says and laughs, and Harry smiles widely--the only type of smile he has is wide, it would seem--and nods

"Oh I definitely will" he says,

"See you around, Zayn" he says and waves as he walks out--well. Walks INTO the door, before flushing and pushing the glass door open and hurrying out. And Zayn laughs softly, looking down at the money in his hand and gaping. He left him a £500 tip. On a £300 tattoo and he stares at the door for a moment, as if it will provide some sort of explanation, before he looks back at his hands, noting that the scrap of paper has something written on it and he unfolds it. 'If you ever feel like getting dinner and seeing a little more skin ;-) --H' it reads, followed by a series of numbers Zayn assumes is Harry's phone number and--he's just baffled. He didn't think Harry was being flirtatious in the slightest but--that's--definitely a winky face. And everyone knows winky faces mean you want to bang. He just stares, before he folds it back up, with the cash and stuffs it in his pocket, going back to pester Louis while he works. Ignoring the note and the phone number for the rest of the evening.

They close up shop after Adam is finally done. Seeing as it's late and other than Harry they haven't had any walk-ins. They spend a while cleaning up, before they hit the little burrito stand on the way to their flat, and head home.

Zayn battles himself on whether or not to even tell Louis that Harry gave him his phone number. Part of him feels guilty--like he's betraying Louis for even having such a thing. He knows it's silly, but he also knows that their relationship isn't strictly of the friendship variety. It's always teetered on the edge of something more, and even though Louis has never made any effort to push it passed that, Zayn still feels wrong about it. It's not until later when they're laying in bed together that he decides he should. (Louis sleeps with him, despite having his own bedroom with a fully functioning bed, because he INSISTS that his room, and only his room, is haunted. Zayn tries to tell him it's just the loud uni kids next door, but he doesn't listen--and Zayn can hardly complain with Louis in his bed. Even when he sticks his cold toes on him for warmth)

"Who do you think thought of butter?m And like--bread and stuff?" Louis asks, head resting on Zayn's stomach and toes tucked under their pillows because he's laying the wrong way on their (Zayn's)  
bed. They're both higher than kites right now, and Zayn can't feel the tips of his fingers but he can feel the warmth of Louis body, and the shift in the bed from Louis's leg that won't stop bouncing.

"What do you mean who thought of it?" He asks, looking down at Louis crazy wisps of hair and the side of his face.

"Like--like who just decided to steal milk From a cow and shake it up until it got all hard and then eat it? Like--who thought of that?" He asks and Zayn just looks at him

"I--I don't know" he says and laughs for no reason.

"What made you think of that?" He asks instead and Louis looks at him

"I want buttered toast" he tells him and Zayn rolls his eyes, sitting up--and Louis squirms and whines in protest and clings to Zayn like the petulant child he is, but Zayn just shakes his head

"You can't have it both ways. Either I make you buttered toast or you can lay on me" he says and Louis whines again and sits up

"Carry me" he says and Zayn quirks an eyebrow at that

"I hate to break it to you love, but you're not a kid anymore" he laughs and Louis squints

"I know you can do it. You did it before when I sprained my ankle skateboarding. Now carry me" he demands. And Zayn cannot even fathom how it is he's managed to fall this in love with someone who is obviously a spoiled 7 year old, masking as a 24 year old man. Then again, Zayn also can't fathom why it is that he always blindly listens to everything Louis says. He thinks while he scoops his arms under Louis's bum to lift him up. Louis isn't actually that much smaller than Zayn.

"What do I get for carrying you and making you toast?" Zayn asks and he lugs him towards the kitchen.

"My love and devotion. Also I give a mean blow job" Louis jokes. Or at least Zayn thinks he's joking, because when Louis is high he says everything in the same flat, half asleep tone. Also they have fucked  
before, so it's not totally unfathomable. That was years ago though. And only one time after Louis and his boyfriend of the time broke up. Zayn likes to pretend he wasn't just rebound sex.

“Harry asked me out” Zayn finally says, trying to sound nonchalant and Louis hums in response

“Did he now?” Louis asks, more interested in staring at his toes as he extends his leg in front of him, than he is in what Zayn is actually saying, and he nods, stomach shifting nervously, despite the calming effect weed has on him.

“Yeah, when he tipped me he left a bit of paper with his phone number on it, telling me to like--text him or something, sometime” Zayn says as they finally make it to the kitchen, his arms straining as he sets Louis down in the counter so he can make the toast.

“Do you want jam?” he adds as he starts and Louis blinks at him owlishly,

“wait, youre serious?” he asks finally, taking a bit longer to process the information than normal,

“Harry Styles really asked you out? What did you say?” he asks now, a slight edge to his voice, but Zayn can’t tell if it's really there, or if it's just wishful thinking. He nods regardless.

“Yeah he really asked me out--and I haven't said anything yet” he says simply as he waits for the toast to toast, leaning back against the kitchen counter opposite from Louis so he can look at him.

“No jam--wait. Jam on one piece. And what are you gonna say?” he asks curiously, voice sounding strange to Zayn's ears, but he just blames the drugs again.

“I dont know” he admits and bites his lip.

“Do you like him?”

“He was a nice lad--odd, but nice.”

“Buuuuuuuuttttttt?”  
“But what?” Zayn asks now, looking at Louis confusedly, as he grabs the jam out of the fridge, and gets the butter out of the cupboard.

“I’m sensing a but coming”

Zayn shakes his head, shrugging half heartedly at that.

"No buts--he's fit and charming and famous--a bit odd. But that's not bad" but I wish you didn't want me to he thinks to himself, as he spreads the jam and butter onto the toast for Louis.

"Do you think I should?" He asks after he's met with silence from the smaller lad and he looks up, and Louis is shrugging.

"Yeah, I don't see why not. He's super fit" Louis agrees and Zayn's stomach drops, but he doesn't let his facial expression waiver.

"You think? I guess I will then" he says, handing the food over, which Louis takes eagerly.

It's not that he wants to be with someone else. He's in love with Louis. He's completely arse over tits in love with Louis and he has been for the better part of their friendship. But that's that's thing--he has been for the better part of their friendship and NOTHING has happened. They've remained stagnant the whole time and the logical part of his mind (a part very rarely used in regards to Louis) was telling him that he had to try to move forward. No matter how much you love someone, you're not always meant to be together, and if that's not what Louis wanted (which he thinks after five years of not reciprocating, it's fairly obvious it's not) that there's no reason he SHOULDN'T go out with Harry. What is there to lose?

"I'll text him tomorrow" he says, and Louis just grunts in approval, and demands to be carried back to the bedroom as he munches on toast, and sings one of Harry's songs loudly in Zayn's ear.

...........................

Zayn did not think this through. Logically, when you are associated with someone who is extremely famous, you gain a sort of second hand fame yourself. The thing was, Zayn and Louis weren't expecting to be associated with Harry Styles. But after Harry posted a picture on his Instagram of Zayn and his new ink, tagging both Zayn and the location all of his (very devoted) followers could see that. However, they did not think that those followers would flock to their doors.

So when the next day, business was a little faster than normal, they didn't think anything about it. However, by the end of the week when there were literally people lining up out the door, and having to book appointments MONTHS In advance, because they had no more availability with just the two of them running the store: they realized that maybe something was up.

"Zayn I think we might need to take on an apprentice" Louis says offhandedly to Zayn, as he's prepping his station for his next client. Zayn is on his phone, looking at the text he has still yet to send 'hey! It's Zayn from the tattoo shop, that offer still up? ;)' He typed it out days ago--the morning after day he came in. But he still hasn't sent it yet. He doesn't know why. And he just closes his phone to look at Louis.

"Maybe. But usually you don't go looking for apprentices. They come to you" he points out and Louis shrugs

"With all the new people coming in, they're coming too Zaynie just wait. They'll be coming" he says like an omen of death, and Zayn laughs.

"We'll see boo" he says and opens up his phone again to stare at the text. It's not that he doesn't want an apprentice (God knows they could use the help) it's just that he kinds of likes it like this. Just the two of them. That's how it's always been. He doesn't want to change. And maybe that's why it's taken him so long to text Harry. He doesn't want everything to change. But at this point it almost seems inevitable. And he looks up at Louis, who has put his headphones in and started wiggling around to music as he cleans and then back down at his phone, closing his eyes and holding his breath before he hits the send button. No going back now. The response is almost immediate.

_'Hey!! I didn't think you were gonna text me lol. Of course it is!! When are you free? :-)_ ' Harry replies and Zayn sighs, sitting down at his station to text.

_'This Sunday I'm free. After that I'm busy for quite a while'_

_'This Sunday could work!! It'll have to be either a lunch or a late dinner :)'_

_'We could do lunch, if you wanted_ ' Zayn glances up when he sees movement out of the corner of his eye and Louis is prancing over to him

"Who are you texting? I'm your only friend" he jokes, only one earbud in now and Zayn rolls his eyes

"Harry" he says and looks down at his phone as it buzzes again

_'Sure!!! Sunday at noon? I can pick you up at your shop :-)_ ' It reads, and Zayn can feel Louis reading over his shoulder as he texts back.

' _Yeah sounds good. See you then_!'

Which is followed closely by

_'See you! ;) xxx_ ' and Louis snorts

"Three kisses? How desperate" he says and a laugh is startled out of Zayn

"Lou, I'm sure he has no trouble getting dates" Zayn reasons and Louis shrugs

"Everyone knows three kisses means they're thirsty" he says, as if it's the most reasonable and logical thing in the world, and Zayn is an idiot for even being unaware.

"I'm sure it'll be fine--we have a date Sunday" he tells him and Louis nods

"I saw" he says and sits on Zayn's drawing table. Really they should both be cleaning. Since they have clients coming in soon.

"Where are you going?" He adds and Zayn shrugs

"Dunno. Hopefully nowhere ridiculous" he says, but he has a feeling that when it comes to Harry there's no such thing as a date that isn't ridiculous. And Louis just shrugs back at him, and puts his headphones back in his ears, slipping off the table to go back and Clean up his station so they can both continue to work.

In the week leading up to Zayn's date, things don't slow down. At all. He had heard of those artist that are super exclusive, that can turn away clients whose art they don't like, and still have people lined up 9 months in advance just for the chance to get a piece done by them. Zayn never thought he would be one of them though. Yet here he is, set for literally the next 5 months. A client nearly every day, with people still coming in steadily looking to fill more of his time.

He looks around idly in search of Louis who's been distant these last few days. When they actually have time to talk, he seems just--overly chipper, and they can't seem to talk for more than a few minutes anymore. Zayn just puts it off as stress though. Things are changing. And changing at a hugely fast rate, they're both busy with new clients and trying to stay organized as their business expands rapidly. As well as having to sort through a bunch of portfolios looking for an apprentice (Louis was right, people started coming In left and right looking for a job.) So he doesn't find it all that odd.

However, when the morning of Zayn's date arrives and Louis is no where to be found--Zayn starts to wonder if maybe something is wrong. There are two things in this world Louis is not. 1. A morning person (a trait they both share) and 2. Shady. While Louis is very good at hiding things for prank purposes, he rarely keeps anything to himself otherwise. Openly telling everyone precisely what he thinks, proudly. So when he wanders the whole apartment and can't find Louis, he finds it a bit odd. Especially when he texts him, asking where he is and the only response he gets is 'out.'

He makes a face at that, but he can't really afford to look into it right now, seeing as he has a date to get ready for. Louis is a big lad, and he knows that if he needs anything he can go to Zayn. So Zayn isn't terribly worried. (Or at least he tells himself he isn't)  
Louis still isn't back though, by the time he has to leave, so he just texts him a 'going off to my date, see you later boo!' And heading out.

......................................

For the record: Louis is **NOT** a stalker. He merely followed Zayn for his own research purposes.......Research like if that curly headed bitch is going to steal his man from him. See, he has a master plan. He's going to follow them around and sabotage everything they do so that Zayn has an awful time and comes running back home to him and realizes he's his one true love and he rides Zayn off into the sunset. But he's not a stalker. If anything, this is Zayn's fault for not realizing that he wasn't allowed to go on dates with other people in the first place.

Louis told him he should, but that's not the point. The point is: it's Zayn's fault.

Louis sits in the car outside the restaurant Harry took Zayn too. Louis doesn't want to go inside, at risk of blowing his cover (also because it looks really fancy and he has like £30 on him). So he just waits. He can't see them, but he'll know when they leave. He doesn't know what he's actually going to do--how he's going to sabotage it, but he knows that he's going to. He's spent far too long making Zayn fall in love with him to have some curly haired pretty boy come in and ruin his chances. So he waits.

He's been planning this for days. He went shopping and bought a really cute outfit to show off his arse, and his arms so when Zayn came back, disappointed from is shitty date, Louis would swoop in save the day. With his body--and love. It's truly foolproof.

But he's getting kind of bored. And his leg bounces as he watches the entrance to the restaurant. It's some weird ass place with a name that Louis couldn't begin to pronounce if he wanted to. Zayn was super dressed up--even wore his favorite leather jacket, that was really expensive but Zayn really liked so Louis paid for half of it--which he only wears on special occasions. Harry looked ok. Mostly like a 50 year old beer dad trying to relive his glory days by wearing expensive clothing and driving flashy cars even though it'll never be able to compensate for the fact that their life peaked in secondary and they'll never be able to live up to the "good old days" again............but that was just Louis's opinion. He thinks Harry's music is overrated anyway. He's not even that talented (even though Louis owns all his albums and two of his EPs.)

Louis perks up when he sees them coming out of the door and then he immediately ducks low so he's out of sight, just his nose and eyes peeking up over the edge of the window. Zayn is laughing--he can't hear it, but he can tell by the wide smile blossoming over Zayn's face as Harry slings his arm around Zayn's shoulders. He looks like he had a really good time.

And sort of all at once, Louis realizes how pathetic all this is.

Zayn isn't his property. And he's not obligated to like Louis back. Obviously if he had, he would have done something by now. But he hasn't, and it's not his fault Louis is jealous. And Louis kind of--sags. It just hurts. It hurts a whole fucking lot when you can let someone into your heart, and under your skin and you become perfectly content with having them as a part of you, and sort of all at once they leave and take everything that's built around you away. (He might be being a little dramatic, since it was one date, but he would never admit that to himself)

And he sits up, snuffling a little and rubbing his face as he buckles up to go home. He's not gonna ruin a good thing for Zayn, just so he can be happy. He's not THAT selfish.

"EEEEAAAAAHHHHHGGGGG!!"  
Louis screeches, soul leaving his body as the passenger seat door opens and Zayn slides into the seat, and he clutches his chest, eyes going wide in horror.

"Hey Lou" Zayn says and waves as he buckles up. Louis had been too lost in his own thoughts to notice Zayn and Harry walking by the car and pointing it out to him. Louis maybe should have thought through the fact that his car has a giant "ZAP!! Tattooing and Piercing" Detailed onto the side of it in block comic book lettering (similar to the tattoo on Zayn's arm). Maybe not the most inconspicuous.

"Oh uh. Hi Zayn" Louis says, voice high, and leaning back against the side of the door, smiling innocently at him

"how was your date?" He adds quickly, acting entirely like he hadn't followed Zayn to the other side of the city to sit outside a restaurant alone for an hour and a half. Zayn however, doesn't say anything about it. Which is more unsettling than him actually questioning why he's there. But he doesn't. He just waits for Louis to start the car.

"It was nice. He's a sweet lad. We'll probably hang out again" he says and Louis hums loudly

"Mhmm!! Cool" he says, face flushed bright red.

"How was your day?" Zayn asks lightly as Louis starts to drive them back towards their flat, smiling smugly to himself.

"Oh if was nice--you know. Woke up. Did some stuff. Was thinking about getting lunch before you interrupted me" which is a complete lie. Well. The first part isn't. He did wake up and did stuff--like get ready super early so he could leave before Zayn woke up so it wasn't suspicious when Louis left right after Zayn did.

"Rude" Louis adds and Zayn just chuckles

"Oh I'm so sorry, Lou" he says and rolls his eyes, just changing the station to one that he likes for the car ride home.

Louis after that is on edge, knowing that it's coming, just not knowing when. Zayn is gonna ask him why he followed him. Or accuse him of stalking him or...SOMETHING. But Zayn keeps drawing it out, just ignoring the encounter like it was the most normal thing in the world. And it sets Louis on edge. He's nervous and shifty the whole rest of the day, legs bouncing and constantly looking at Zayn waiting for the moment he breaks down and starts to laugh at Louis. But it doesn't come ALL. DAY. And Louis feels like at this point Zayn is just being mean by not getting it over with and giving him so much anxiety.

At this point they're at home--they don't take many days off, but when they do they like to just relax as much as possible. Which Louis would like to be doing if Zayn wasn't acting so weird--or. So normal. He SHOULD be acting weirder.

"I think I found another tattoo I want you to give me" Zayn says lightly as he sits cross legged on their bed, breaking up weed on a magazine since their grinder is broken and they can't be fucked to go buy a new one.

"Like I saw someone with this sick tiger, and it like wrapped around their arm and I was thinking you could add some color to it and it would be sick"  
He says and starts to pack their bowl, looking at Louis for confirmation and he nods slowly

"Yeah bro I could do that, whenever we have free time" Louis says, biting his lip as he watches Zayn. Why isn't he asking me? He thinks to himself, leg starting to bounce again.

"God we probably won't have any anymore. It's been mental the last few days hasn't it?" Zayn asks, pausing mid sentence to take a hit, breathing in deeply and holding it in, letting it swirl around in his lungs before breathing it back out smoothly. Louis thinks he looks like a dragon.

"I guess this is the life now. Which is nice and that--having a lot of clients, but it feels sort of like cheating you know? Getting famous off of someone else's fame, and not really your own talent" Zayn muses and Louis nods

"Can't really complain though" he points out and takes the bowl when it's offered to him. This is exactly what he needs. To be high and have a excuse to make Zayn cuddle him so he can forget all about today. He breathes in deeply and keeps the bowl held to his lips to clear the chamber.

"I had a girl ask me to tattoo a picture of Harry onto her arm" Zayn says and laughs softly "isn't that mental? Can you imagine being so famous that people want their face on you permanently?" He seems delighted at the idea.

"I followed you on your date today cause I wanted to see how Harry treated you" he blurts out, after exhaling, and his eyes widen, and Zayn laughs.

"Checking up on me, eh Lou-eh?" He says back and shakes his head and he seems so chill about it that Louis wants to scream.

"No I wanted to try to ruin it so you wouldn't go on another date with him" Louis says now. There's no point in lying. And he hands the bowl back so Zayn can take another hit, and he lays back on the bed.

"Why don't you want me to go on another date with him?" Zayn asks, turning on his side now and resting his head on his arm, his free hand finding Louis's hip, and Louis shrugs.

"He's not good for you" Louis reasons and looks at Zayn's face, eyes wandering the familiar features hazily.

"No? Why not?"

Cause he's not me. Louis thinks to himself and shimmies a little closer to Zayn's touch, bed creaking under the motion.

"He's just all wrong. Too preppy and--Zayn I mean honestly most of his tattoos are ridiculous." He argues and Zayn laughs

"Lou--you have a wookie eating a cupcake on your arse" Zayn points out and Louis smacks his teeth,

"What does that have to do with anything Zayncifer? Don't compare my art to his rubbish tattoos---have you seen the heart on his shoulder?? It's just a black blob. It's not even shaded evenly!!" He exclaims, and Zayn chuckles, fingers petting at the skin of his stomach.

"Don't be mean" Zayn chides lightly "he's a nice lad" he adds and for a moment, Louis looks small.

"Do you really like him?" He whispers, fingers picking lint off of Zayn's shirt idly, and Zayn shrugs

"He's nice." Is all he says and Louis hides his face against the other lads chest.

"I don't want you to like him" he says, muffled by Zayn's skin and his arms come around Louis's body, pulling him closer.

"Why?" He asks and Louis pulls back to look at him, face scrunching up in thought for a moment, before he leans up and presses a little kiss to Zayn's cheek. And

"Cause I'm selfish" he says and stays tucked against Zayn's chest. His arms resting between them and staying quiet for a long moment before he sits up.

"Do we have any vodka?" He asks, standing to walk towards the kitchen, and Zayn takes a moment to process everything, trying to gather what Louis means and he rolls his eyes.

See, Zayn might be a little blind, but he's not stupid. Not when it comes to Louis. Or at least--not when it comes to Louis's emotions. He knows Louis. Inside and out, just like Louis knows him and the more he thinks about it; the stupider he feels for not realizing sooner. Louis is jealous. And he follows Louis towards the kitchen, seeing him climbing onto a chair to try to reach the alcohol in the cupboard above the fridge and Zayn laughs softly, coming up behind him to hold his hips and steady him so he can grab the bottle down. But when Louis gets it, and steps off the chair, Zayn grabs his hand away from the bottle, and starts kissing his fingers

"I have a better idea" he says, kissing his palm

"Whaa--?" And Louis looks confused, but only for a second, as Zayn leans in and presses his lips to his. For a moment Louis is confused, then he's kissing back and it's exactly like he'd expected.

Louis kisses like he talks. Like he's always trying to fight, tongue sharp and teeth playful, throwing himself entirely into the kiss as he wraps his little arms around Zayn's neck, and is backed into the counter in return.

He crawls back, being half lifted onto the counter as Zayn slides his tongue into his mouth. Zayn kisses like tattoos. Smooth and confident and slow. His hands slide over the curve of Louis's sides. Humming into him. Maybe it's the weed. Or maybe it's the five years of sexual tension being released but from that point on, Zayn's mouth doesn't leave Louis's body.

They start off slow, mouths melding together and hands roaming, before its Zayn's mouth on Louis's neck, sucking roughly and rubbing down his thighs as Louis leans back and moans, fingers fisted tightly into Zayn's black hair.

His mouth moves lower and lower, trying to find new skin to explore until he's met with the edge of Louis's  
Shirt--but that only remains an obstacle for a few moments as he tears it up over Louis's head and returns his mouth to Louis's chest, hands sliding away from his thighs and up his sides to lift him, hiking him up his body so he can attach his mouth to Louis's nipple, and Louis's legs wrap around Zayn's hips as he walks them back towards their room.

"Zaaayyyynnnnn" Louis whines high in his throat and his back arches towards Zayn's mouth as he flicks his tongue over his nipple and tugs with his teeth. Arms going out as he drops Louis onto the bed, watching hungrily as Louis crawls backwards on the bed, and Zayn follows, pulling his shirt off to expose his chest.

Zayn is almost all tattoos. From his neck down, there's almost no skin that's left without black ink save for a few spaces on his legs and stomach and Louis sits up, grabbing for Zayn's sides so he can kiss down his abs, little hands going to his button and zip.

"Want your cock in my mouth" Louis breaths and pushes Zayn's jeans and boxers down his hips, too eager to push them all the way off and Zayn's cock springs free, red and leaking, and Louis moans in anticipation, leaning in to kitten lick at the head.

Zayn's eyes slip closed at the sensation, hand resting on Louis's shoulder as he starts to suck on the head of his cock, tongue swirling we he goes and he moans around his length as he takes more of him into his mouth, exhaling through his nose so he can take more in.

Louis loves Zayn cock, loves the weight on his tongue and the sound Zayn makes when he sucks hard, and slides himself up the entire length, fingers curled around the base so he stays hard and pulsing for Louis's  
Tongue, and he whimpers as Zayn Bucks into his throat, hand coming to rest on Zayn's neck so he can feel the swell of the skin as his throat expands to accommodate him and Louis wiggles his mouth further down onto his dick, trying to encourage him to fuck into his throat.

Zayn moves his hips slowly, pushing into Louis's waiting mouth as far as he dares and Louis's little fingers pump whatever his mouth won't reach, eyes squeezing shut as Zayn fucks his mouth.

He pulls off when Zayn tugs his hair, laying back when Zayn shifts down, kicking his pants off and then reaching up to tug Louis's off his body too, leaving them both naked and panting on the bed. Zayn's mouth attaches to Louis's thighs immediately, biting and sucking, leaving dark marks on his skin as Louis spreads his legs like a whore for Zayn's mouth.

Zayn knows exactly what to do to make Louis desperate. Knows exactly how to flick his tongue against Louis's hole. And how to rub his fingers inside his right little arse to have him writhing and begging for more than his fingers can offer.

They can't be fucked at this point to look for lube so Zayn just spits into his hand. Rubbing it over the head of his cock, and then dipping his fingers into Louis's already loosened hole to make sure he's ready to be fucked.

He doesn't waste time then, pushing Into Louis's hole with a low moan, and he's met with a loud whine, Louis pushing back against him, eager to take more. They've both waited far too long for this to be slow or careful and Zayn fucks into him desperately, legs slapping against his arse as he moves and Louis keeps his back arched as Zayn takes him from behind, pushing back to meet each thrust with a cry.

When Zayn's thrusts aren't hard enough for Louis's taste he turns over, pushing on Zayn's chest so he lays back on the bed, and he can throw his legs over Zayn's hips and reach back to guide his cock back into him, rocking his hips slowly before he starts to bounce on his cock, finding that this is a good way to work his prostate and Zayn wants to fucking scream it feels so good.

At that rate, it doesn't take long for either of them to reach the edge, thrusts becoming more and more erratic as they lose themselves to the feeling. Zayn comes first, fingers bruising on Louis's hips as he bursts inside him, filling him up and the sensation is just enough to push Louis into his orgasm, crying out as waves of pleasure roll over him.

When they're both done, panting and stuck together, as they bask in the last little waves of their orgasms, they laugh softly, and Zayn smirks a bit, hands resting in the curve of Louis's lower back.

"Harry's in love with one of his mates" he tells him lightly and Louis blinks.

"He---what?" Louis asks dumbfoundedly. Still trying to make his mind catch up after that.

"Yeah. About ten minutes into it we realized we weren't a good match. And over lunch he admitted to me that he's in love with his mate--and I told him I was in love with you. So we spent the rest of the time talking about that. He's a nice lad though, you'd like him I think. I told him we should hang out again" he says lightly and Louis smacks Zayn's chest now

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!!" He screeches and Zayn jerks a little but laughs,

"Shhhhhhhh" he says and laughs, kissing him quiet and smiling into his lips as Louis pouts up at him, but curls up and tucks his toes under Zayn regardless.

............................................

“You just about done down there?” Zayn complains as Louis hums to himself over the buzzing of the tattoo machine. Zayn is on his stomach, on one of the beds they have at the shop for the clients, while Louis maps out lines on Zayn's calf. They cleared some time in their schedule because Louis wanted to give Zayn a new tattoo. They’re letting their apprentice tend to any walk ins for the time being.

“Hush, you're ruining my concentration” Louis says and Zayn snorts at that.

“Mkayyyy babe, whatever you say” he says and shakes his head slightly. He actually has no idea what the tattoo is gonna be. Louis didn't tell him. He just told him that he wanted to give Zayn a tattoo and Zayn agreed, blindly. He's just hoping he doesn't have a cock and bollocks tattooed onto his leg when all is said and done.....which he totally wouldn't put past Louis.

“I said shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” Louis hisses and Zayn smiles fondly.

“How big is it even? You've been working on it for ages” He says and he's met with a light smack to the back of his thigh, where he's not being tattooed.

“Youre going to ruin the surprise, Zayncicle, stop asking questions” He says and Zayn finally relents. He does trust Louis--mostly. sometimes. At least with tattoos. so he lays there quietly until Louis pulls the needle away from his skin, and the hum of the machine stops.

“Ok. My masterpiece is finished, you are welcome.” He says and Zayn rolls his eyes and sits up stretching out and going to check out the ink in the mirror, and when he sees it, he can't stop laughing.

Written in a circle around the meat of his calf it says “Property of Louis Tomlinson: Trespassers will be Prosecuted” With a little stylized grim reaper inside it, colored in full color. The first of Zayn’s ink to actually have more than a hint of color and he just--

“God you’re ridiculous” he accuses and Louis smiles innocently

“I just figured you wanted people to know, honestly Zayn its for their own protection” Louis says as if hs given a gift to the world, and Zayn reaches forward to grab him by the back of the neck and pull him in for a kiss.

“I love you” he says through a soft laugh, and he can feel Louis’s teeny smile against him.

“I know” is all he says in return and presses his lips to Zayn's once more. Zayn thinks maybe it's a little fitting. After all,since it was a tattoo that gave him Louis, isnt it fitting that a tattoo was the thing that showed the world he was Louis’s? He thinks it is.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry i'm so bad at endings.


End file.
